1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and method of performing a development process on a substrate including a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, a glass substrate for a plasma display panel, and the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional method of developing a substrate includes: moving a developer supply nozzle from the side of a first edge of a substrate to the side of a second edge thereof opposite from the first edge to apply a developer (or a developing solution or liquid) onto the entire upper surface of the substrate (which method of applying a developer is referred to as a xe2x80x9cslit scan development methodxe2x80x9d); and, after a lapse of a predetermined period of time, moving a rinsing solution supply nozzle from the side of the first edge of the substrate to the side of the second edge thereof at the same speed as the developer supply nozzle to apply a rinsing solution onto the entire upper surface of the substrate, thereby stopping development on the upper surface of the substrate.
This method of development is intended to provide substantially the same developing time throughout the upper surface of the substrate by moving the developer supply nozzle and the rinsing solution supply nozzle at the same speed, to prevent nonuniform development and to improve the uniformity of the line width of a resist pattern after the development.
However, various experiments have shown that the resist pattern tends to have a line width less than a desired dimension in an area toward which the rinsing solution supply nozzle moves (or on the side of the second edge of the substrate) to result in insufficient development uniformity.
This problem is considered to result from the following phenomenon. In the above-mentioned method of development, as shown in FIG. 8, a rinsing solution dropped from a rinsing solution supply nozzle 110 into a developer 101 formed in a puddle on a substrate W causes more or less vibrations (or fluctuations) 102 of the puddle of developer 101. The vibrations 102 are transferred to the area toward which the rinsing solution supply nozzle 110 moves, thereby to accelerate a development reaction because of a so-called agitation action.
The present invention is intended for a substrate processing apparatus which applies a developer onto a substrate to effect development, and then applies a rinsing solution onto the substrate to stop the development.
According to the present invention, a substrate processing apparatus comprises: a substrate holder for holding a substrate; a developer supply nozzle including a first discharge opening having a length substantially not less than the size of a major surface of the substrate; a first moving mechanism for moving the developer supply nozzle from the side of a first edge of the substrate to the side of a second edge of the substrate opposite from the first edge; a rinsing solution supply nozzle including a second discharge opening having a length substantially not less than the size of the major surface of the substrate; a second moving mechanism for moving the rising solution supply nozzle from the side of the first edge of the substrate to the side of the second edge of the substrate; and a controller for causing the developer supply nozzle to move in a first moving speed pattern from the side of the first edge of the substrate to the side of the second edge of the substrate to apply a developer onto the major surface of the substrate, and then causing the rinsing solution supply nozzle to move in a second moving speed pattern from the side of the first edge of the substrate to the side of the second edge of the substrate to apply a rinsing solution onto the major surface of the substrate, wherein the first moving speed pattern and the second moving speed pattern are established so that developing time at different sites of the substrate decreases in proceeding from the side of the first edge to the side of the second edge.
The substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention can shorten developing time at a site where a development reaction is apt to accelerate, to further improve line width uniformity.
Preferably, the second discharge opening discharges the rinsing solution in a first direction opposite from a second direction in which the rinsing solution supply nozzle moves from the side of the first edge of the substrate to the side of the second edge of the substrate.
This prevents the rinsing solution from flowing ahead of the rinsing solution supply nozzle and from forcing the developer on the substrate to flow ahead of the rinsing solution supply nozzle.
Preferably, the substrate processing apparatus further comprises: a development condition obtaining section for obtaining a development condition; and a speed pattern establishing section for establishing at least one of the first moving speed pattern and the second moving speed pattern in accordance with the obtained development condition.
The substrate processing apparatus can further improve the line width uniformity in accordance with a change in development condition.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of processing a substrate comprises the steps of: applying a developer onto a major surface of a substrate while scanning in a first scanning rate pattern from the side of a first edge of the substrate to the side of a second edge of the substrate opposite from the first edge; and applying a rinsing solution onto the major surface of the substrate while scanning in a second scanning rate pattern from the side of the first edge of the substrate to the side of the second edge of the substrate after the application of the developer onto the major surface of the substrate, wherein the first scanning rate pattern and the second scanning rate pattern are established so that developing time at different sites of the substrate decreases in proceeding from the side of the first edge to the side of the second edge.
The method according to the present invention can shorten the developing time at a site where a development reaction is apt to accelerate, to further improve line width uniformity.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for chemically processing a major surface of a substrate comprises: an applying part for applying a chemical solution sequentially onto a first region and a second region of the major surface; and a removing part for removing the chemical solution sequentially from the first region and the second region, wherein a first exposure time period for which the first region is exposed to the chemical solution is longer than a second exposure time period for which the second region is exposed to the chemical solution.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for and method of improving line width uniformity in substrate processing.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.